Irish Gala to honor scribes, Holmes

Ceremony will take place at Wilshire Ebell on March 2

LONDON — Neil Jordan, Jim Sheridan and music producer David Holmes will be honored at a new gala event in Los Angeles celebrating Irish film writing.

Organized by the U.S.-Ireland Alliance, the ceremony will take place at the Wilshire Ebell on March 2, just before the March 5 Academy Awards, under the title “Oscar Wilde: Honoring Irish Writing in Film.”

The U.S.-Ireland Alliance is headed by Trina Vargo, a former foreign policy adviser to Senator Edward M. Kennedy.

She has raised sponsorship from American Airlines, the Irish Film Board, Tourism Ireland and Enterprise Ireland for what she hopes will become an annual event.

Per Vargo, it is intended to “honor the craft of writing and expand the existing ties between the entertainment industries in the U.S. and Ireland, particularly in film production, gaming, music and animation.”

Irish arts minister John O’Donoghue commented, “This is a wonderful opportunity to promote Ireland as the best place in the world to make films or take a vacation.”